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lujisa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood
victoriousbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: War
sarasreading's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I flew through this though, and generally had a good time with it. I had some squabbles, especially with the speed of the romance and how the characters seemed to fundamentally change as it progressed. I didn't realize this wasn't a standalone, but I might give the next one a go.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Classism
bookish_hollyx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.0
Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
booksthatburn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
One of the things with showing relationship chemistry in a narrative on the basis of past events between characters is that it can leave some readers feeling like the characters aren't grounded enough or their relationships don't fully make sense. I, in particular, know that I have trouble with this as a reader. I don't have an imagination filling in the gaps and wondering what tension could have led to this moment. I read how it plays out in the book right now and I either have enough detail or it just falls flat for me. This didn't work as well for me as the similarly antagonistic/romantic relationship between Juliette and Roma in THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS because once IMMORTAL LONGINGS BEGINS, Anton and Calla don't really do much to harm each other's aims until very late in the book. They're set up so that at some point they will no longer both be able to get what they want, but since that point is when dozens of other people have been eliminated it can be far away for a long time. When combined with the reveal at the very end, it means I finished the book a bit confused and not sure whether it worked well for me personally. It leans even more into this narrative style which the Secret Shanghai books also have, but the way it's refined here took it out of my comfort zone.
I've seen a lot of comparisons between Immortal Longings and The Hunger Games. This is both slightly true and mostly unhelpful as a generalization, as what they have in common are either superficial genre features or not unique to The Hunger Games. I understand why the comparison occurs to people so I'd like to take it seriously, that will be covered at length in an upcoming essay.
If you like books where things are left more mysterious and many people have hidden plans, you'll probably like this. It wasn't quite my style, I prefer the Secret Shanghai books.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
brewdy_reader's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Look, I think this book got done dirty in reviews. I was very entertained by this story and cannot wait for the sequel to come out.
The descriptions of the city make the smog suffocating and the poverty palpable. Street food and urban bars and brothels, city guards and surveillance cameras on every corner, cramped living quarters, and rumors of life outside the city walls set the backdrop for the annual competition in which 88 lucky entrants fight to the death in a winner take all game. Morally grey is a theme for all the MCs: an exile, an outlaw princess, and the heir to the throne.
The first third of the book does require mental focus in order to grasp the names, places, characters and their backstories, and also the rules of the fantasy system. Critics call this 'info dumping' but this is exactly what happens in high fantasy books; it cannot be all action all the time and requires build up. This is fantasy first and romance second. There is flirting, tension, romance, and one pretty spicy scene. There's also some great combat street fighting and dark urban dystopian vibes.
Minor complaints: the opening was on the slow side and some of the wrap-up anti-climatic. However, I really enjoyed the fantasy elements and I'm excited to see what is next from Chloe Gong.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Murder, and Classism
camiandkitread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is Gong’s first foray into the adult novel market and in some ways it shows. The pacing felt slower than in her previous books and the “spice” could have been better integrated, in my opinion.
However, the main characters stayed true to Gong’s signature “Knife Wife” and “Male Wife” pairing. Calla and Anton have tremendous potential and I’m thrilled to see what happens in the sequel!
In all, it was a little heavy on the world building and had long stretches between plot action—although there was plenty of battle action—but has definitely set the stage for a great book two!
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
wet_towlette's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
sydapel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood
mattiedancer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
- Fans of Chloe Gong
- Fans of Shakespeare and fantasy novels
- Fans of enemies to lovers
- Fans of Hunger Games, but want it magic
- Death, murder, blood, injury, injury detail, gore, child death, sexual content, death of parent, cursing, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationship
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and War